[Questdog]

Wednesday, September 5, 2001

Cincinnati Reds (68-69 .496 14.5 GB in 4th place in the NL East) at
Portland Beavers (55-83 .399 26.5 GB in 7th place in the NL West)

Ron Blalack, Cin (35 R 6-14 4.10 8.7-0.7-2.8-4.6 H/9-HR/9-BB/9-K/9) vs Tony Ricketts, Por (27 R 6-15 4.04 8.9-1.1-1.9-5.3)

We have not faced Blalack before.

Today is Tony Ricketts' 27th birthday.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-HR-RBI-OPS)
CINCINNATI
1: RF Lee Kowalski (26 L .305-10-43-.805 in 429 AB)
2: 2B Howard Robertson (29 R .252-5-30-.701 in 214 AB)
3: CF Ron Vayo (28 L .303-29-66-1.030 in 304 AB)
4: LF Keith Redlin (28 R .361-0-3-.855 in 36 AB)
5: 1B Roy Harrington (32 R .253-15-51-.740 in 304 AB)
6: 3B Randy Casebolt (29 L .259-16-70-.740 in 483 AB)
7: C Wil Carballo (30 R .241-7-33-.671 in 307 AB)
8: SS Jack Couitt (27 R .182-0-3-.482 in 66 AB)
9: P Ron Blalack (35 R .107-0-2-.230 in 56 AB)

PORTLAND
1: LF Frank Wiginton (31 S .293-8-51-.824 in 417 AB)
2: RF Jerry Alston (28 L .283-0-12-.687 in 230 AB)
3: CF Rich Babbin (36 L .246-8-50-.715 in 345 AB)
4: 1B Ernesto Gonzelez (32 L .278-3-22-.803 in 151 AB)
5: 3B Tim DePriest (26 R .227-0-7-.528 in 44 AB)
6: 2B Mike Cavallaro (27 R .207-0-14-.524 in 150 AB)
7: SS Rick Ferrell (26 R .214-1-15-.538 in 229 AB)
8: C Steve Jensen (24 R .267-1-3-.800 in 15 AB)
9: P Tony Ricketts (27 R .143-0-2-.348 in 42 AB)

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Weather: 63 deg. Overcast with a 9 MPH wind blowing right to left.

Lee Kowalski swings at the very first pitch and doubles down the right field line. Howard Robertson swings at the next pitch and grounds a hit to left. Ron Vayo strikes out! Keith Redlin draws a walk to load the bases up. Full count to Roy Harrington and he lines out to center and Kowalski tags up and scores without a throw. 1 to 0, Reds.Randy Casebolt flies out to right.

Bottom of the 1st: Frank Wiginton flies out to left. Jerry Alston grounds out to 1st. Rich Babbin reaches on a 2-base error by Jack Couitt. E-6. Ernesto Gonzelez, the hottest hitter on the team, grounds out to 3rd.

Top of the 2nd: The Reds load the bases up with 2 outs and Ron Vayo comes to the plate. He grounds out to 2nd!

Top of the 3rd: Keith Redlin leads off with a single to center and goes to 2nd when Rich Babbin botches the pickup. With 1 out, Randy Casebolt single to left and Redlin scores. 2 to 0, Reds. Through 3 innings, Ricketts, who averages less than 2 walks per 9 innings has walked 3. He only lasted 3 innings in his last start and walked 4. That is 7 walks in his last 6 innings. What is up with that?

Top of the 5th: With 1 out, Keith Redlin singles to left and Roy Harrington homers to left. 4 to 0, Reds.

Bottom of the 5th: Rick Ferrell leads off with a hit to right, our 1st base knock of the game. Someone needs to tell these guys that you are allowed to hit int he first 4 innings.... Steve Jensen doubles to right. Pinch-Hitter: LHB Rich Doody. He flies out to center and Ferrell tags and scores without a throw. 4 to 1, Reds. With 2 outs, Jerry Alston grounds a hit up the middle and Jensen scores. 4 to 2, Reds. Rich Babbin lines a hit to center and Ernesto Gonzelez lines a hit to left and Alston scores. 4 to 3, Reds.

Top of the 7th: New pitcher: RHP Larry Castillo. He strikes out 2, but gives up 3 hits and a run. 5 to 3, Reds.

Bottom of the 8th: New pitcher: RHP Tony Ahern. Ernesto Gonzelez leads off with a double and goes to 3rd on a wild pitch. After Tim DePriest strikes out, Mike Cavallaro plops one down right in front of home plat, but the Wil Carballo throws the ball away for a 2-base error and Gonzelez scores! E-2. 5 to 4, Reds. Rick Ferrell draws a walk. Steve Jensen lines a hit to right and Cavallaro heads for home, but Lee Kowalski throws him out. 2 down. Pinch-Hitter: LHB Rick Deveney. New pitcher: LHP Aaron Regier. Pinch-Hitter: RHB Joe Hartin. Full count and he takes ball four to load the bases up. Frank Wiginton up and he is not so good against lefties, but we let him bat. He swings at the first pitch and grounds out to the pitcher....

Lost - 11 to 4

The 9th inning was a bit of a mess....

We had 8 hits and made 3 errors.
The Reds had 17 hits and made 2 errors.

We used 8 pitchers, a new team record....
Tony Ricketts (L 6-16) went 5 innings, allowed 4 runs, 9 hits, 1 home run, 3 walks and struck out 2.
LHP Jim Ackley went 1 scoreless inning, allowed 1 hit and struck out 1.
RHP Larry Castillo went 1 inning, allowed 1 run, 3 hits and struck out 2.
LHP Pedro Huerta went 1 perfect inning.
RHP Billy Rueter faced 2 batters, allowed 1 run and 2 hits.
LHP Steve Mulder faced 1 batter, allowed 1 run, 1 walk and committed a balk.
RHP Bruce Byrd faced 4 batters and got 1 out. He allowed 4 runs (2 earned) and 2 hits. That is not a typo; that is a stupid scorekeeper....
RHP Ricky Chase faced 2 batters and retired them both with 1 strikeout.

Ron Blalack (W 7-14) went 6 innings, gave us 3 runs, 6 hits, 2 walks and struck out 3.

1B Ernesto Gonzelez had 2 hits with a double and 2 walks, scored a run and had an RBI. Since the 1st of August, he is 33 for 101 (.327) with 9 2B and 3 HR, 23 R and 17 RBI. 21 BB. He is an excellent fielder, too. If he was not 32, I would be tickled pink with him as my first baseman. At least against righties. As is typical of all of our left-handed hitters (and switch-hitters, too), he cannot hit lefties much at all. Of course, none of our right-handed hitters can hit lefties OR righties.... SS Rick Ferrell had 2 hits and a walk and scored a run. C Steve Jensen had 2 hits with a double and scored a run. PH Rich Doody drew a walk. PH Joe Hartin drew a walk.

For the Reds, 2B Howard Robertson had 3 hits with a double and an RBI. LF Keith Redlin had 3 hits with a double and a walk, stole a base and scored 3 runs. 1B Roy Harrington had 3 hits with his 16th home run of the season, scored 2 runs and had 3 RBIs.